


A Quiet Darkness

by otawritesthings



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bullying, Camping, Cutesy, Foxes, Friends to Lovers, Getting Lost, Getting Stuck, Getting Together, Good Dad Ukai, Lizards, M/M, Mountains, Mutual Pining, Nature, Protective Tsukishima Kei, Romantic Fluff, Stranded, Sugamama, Team Dad Sawamura Daichi, Team Mom Sugawara Koushi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Yamaguchi Tadashi's Freckles, mountain training, or glamping rather, tanaka likes beef jerky fight me on this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23835091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otawritesthings/pseuds/otawritesthings
Summary: One training camp in the woods.Two boys who seek solace in each other.Three in a fight with nature.Four hours of walking to buy food.--The story in which the Karasuno bus gets stuck on a mountain and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are the sparks to each others' flames
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 261





	A Quiet Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hallo!
> 
> This is my first work in the Haikyuu fandom! (I know, I am babey).  
> Haikyuu showed up, showed me season 3, and I got addicted so that's cool  
> Kuroo could step on me and that's FINE.
> 
> BUT this isn't about Kuroo, this is about Tsukishima and Yamaguchi and how adorable they are. I had a lot of fun writing pure, self indulgent fluff. Enjoy!

“Oh, yeah, go ahead and drool all over my shoulder.” Kageyama rolled his eyes in disgust and shoved Hinata off of his shoulder. The ginger snorted in his sleep, but didn’t wake up as he lolled to his other side and flopped into the window. Kei watched with mild interest.

Yamaguchi had long since fallen asleep next to him, head tipped back against his seat and snoring lightly through his freckled nose. If Kei was honest, his headphones were a blessing, because the olive haired boy had an obnoxious tendency to talk in his sleep or make weird clicking noises. Was he part dolphin or something?

Of course, Kei would take Yamaguchi over Hinata any day. The little shrimp was just… loud, and somehow even more of a puppy in his sleep with the nasty amount of droll that he could  _ easily  _ see on Kageyama’s shoulder. The dark haired first year wrinkled his nose from the row in front of where he and Yamaguchi sat on the team bus, and pulled out a tissue from his bag, wiping Hinata’s remains away.

Kei switched his gaze to the window. The mountainous landscape blurred by, turning from lush greenery at the base to something significantly more brown and murky. The clear sky turned into a dense fog, so Kei settled himself back into playing a dumb game on his phone. Of course it was cooler up on the top of the mountain -- higher altitude and whatnot -- but it made Kei just the slightest bit unnerved, like they were standing in a place that didn’t truly exist. Something prodded at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t tell what the feeling was. 

His first thought was that Yamaguchi would  _ definitely  _ say that his lack of understanding was due to his ‘emotional constipation,’ which was bullshit. Kei knew what emotions were, even if they were dumb things anyway that ruined everything. 

The bus rolled to a slow stop, and Yamaguchi stirred as it lurched on the slope. He blinked tiredly at Kei and then yawned  _ rather  _ loudly. The blonde could hear it  _ though _ his headphones.

“There’s a rest stop here before we hit the top of the mountain. It’ll be another two hours drive until we reach the cabin.” Mr. Takeda swiveled around from the driver’s seat. “Once we get there, we’re going to run a couple of drills before dinner. I suggest getting a snack now if you think you’re going to need it.”

Kei paused momentarily. One part of him wanted to turn his music up impossibly louder and ignore the way Nishinoya and Tanaka stampeded from the back of the bus, waving their wallets filled with money that was about to be blown on sodas and chips. The other part of him was  _ hungry.  _

“Tsukki! Wanna go get some snacks with me?” Yamaguchi chirped, fishing through his backpack for his own wallet.

Kei shrugged and fished in his gym short pockets, confirming that he still had a couple notes stashed away still before standing up on wobbly car-trip knees. He really  _ was  _ hungry, now that he got moving. A melon bread sounded really good…

“Tsukki, watch out!” Yamaguchi laughed halfheartedly, but Kei didn’t know exactly what he was talking about. He straightened up to full height, feeling the tension in his muscles now more than ever, and then realized why Yamaguchi had warned him when his head connected with the roof of the bus.

“Damn hunk of metal.” He cursed, rubbing the now sore spot with his fingers. Yamaguchi just snickered from next to him practically skipping off the bus after Hinata and Kageyama, although it seemed more like Kageyama was dragging Hinata who had an ever harder time waking up than Daichi after a long match.

“You’re just too tall, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi grinned, practically hopping in place from excitement in a way that Kei did  _ not  _ understand. How did he have so much energy? In all his years of knowing the boy, he never seemed to lack that certain spark that made him like a human lightbulb. He was so… bright, where Kei found himself being… dark. Maybe it was why hanging around Yamaguchi -- as opposed to the other members of the team -- was more comforting. Yamaguchi was his control variable. 

“Let’s go.” He sighed, and happily, Yamaguchi led the way.

\---

“Ukai, you aren’t gonna like this.” Takeda sighed, jolting Kei from his light sleep. He shuffled around in his cramped seat, feeling stiff and sore all over. He wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep again, but now it was dark outside, and the bus wasn’t moving anymore. Almost the entire bus was passed out again, snoring and drooping on windows and other teammates. 

“What’s up?” Ukai’s groggy, smoke rasped voice echoed in the silent bus. Kei noticed that his music had stopped a while ago. He carefully pulled off his headphones and winced at the pressure release on his temples. 

“There’s been a rock cave in up ahead.” Takeda sighed, “There’s rangers and a crew working on it, but they say it’ll take a few hours.”

“So… we turn around and head back into town?” Ukai suggested, flicking on his phone. “Damn. No service. How far back was the nearest hotel? Do you remember?”

“A couple hours. We could try to head back that way, but physically speaking, we can’t turn the bus around very well on this small road with all the construction stuff.

“...So we’re stuck here.” Ukai grunted, “Damn. It’s almost nine. We need food.”

There was silence for a moment. Kei held his breath and listened. “The last stop was two hours back.”

Ukai said something  _ very  _ vulgar under his breath that definitely contained the word  _ fuck.  _

“I don’t want to do a group walk back there.” Takeda sighed. He turned off the bus, and the lights flicked on. Groans resonated throughout the bus as eleven pairs of eyes opened.

“Are we there, coach?” Daichi yawned, standing up and adjusting his jacket.

“Not quite. There’s an issue with the roads so we’re stuck here for the night.” Ukai grumbled.

“Whaaa?” Hinata cried from his seat. Kei’s head ached just hearing his whine. “But what about dinner?”

“We’re working on it, kid.” Ukai huffed. “Our best bet would be to go to the store a few miles back.”

“Should we all go?” Asahi suggested, adjusting his messy bun only made messier by the long nap he took half on Tanaka’s lap and half sitting up. 

“I don’t want to leave the bus entirely with all of our stuff on it,” Takeda shook his head, “I would like to be able to split up--”

“I’ll go.” Sugawara instantly volunteered. Kei should’ve seen it coming, that boy was like the glue holding their team together, honestly. Between him and Daichi their team was likely to all apart without them.

“I wanna go!” Both Tanaka and Nishinoya exclaimed. 

Yamaguchi raised his hand next to him, and Kei’s eyes snapped to him. Was he really thinking about hiking down the mountain for the next two hours or more to get  _ snacks? _ “Count me in!” He yelled.

Kei’s stomach twisted. He really had no choice, did he? Yamaguchi was dumb, but Kei knew that if he wanted to help, then either he volunteered himself or he would be dragged along by force.

“I’ll go.” he muttered, trying to ignore how Yamaguchi cheered excitedly next to him.

“Wonderful! I’ll chaperone. Ukai, stay here?” Takeda smiled, and Coach Ukai shrugged. 

“I don’t care. I need a smoke. Be safe and don’t get run over on the highway. And get  _ real  _ food. If you don’t, I’ll make you run the rest of the way to the cabin.”

Kei didn’t doubt that he would.

And so that decided it -- Suga, Yamaguchi, Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Kei himself began to walk down the winding mountain roads in the black of night.

\---

“We could  _ totally  _ imagine this was like… the apocalypse or something!” Noya cheered, punching the air. Kei rolled his eyes. This wasn’t  _ anything  _ like the apocalypse. This was just… walking. For food. In a group.

But he didn’t say anything, because Yamaguchi joined in just as excitedly.

The excitement didn’t last too long. They played games at first, started by Suga in an attempt to keep everyone from focusing on the fact that they had been on their feet for awhile, but after the first hour of just walking with their phone flashlights to guide them, the fatigue set in.

“Thankfully we didn’t make it all the way up the mountain.” Takeda mused, “It would be much longer from there. Right now we’re about halfway. What should we get for dinner?”

“Beef jerky.” Tanaka mumbled tiredly, kicking at a random rock on the road, “I could eat that all day every day.”

“ _ Real  _ food, Tanaka, or did you not hear Coach's threat?” Suga reminded.

“They had… uh sandwiches right? We could take those. And if it really came down to it we could make cup ramen over a fire.” Yamaguchi suggested. It wasn’t a bad idea, just long winded, in Kei’s opinion.

“Protein bars.” He suggested, “And maybe peanut butter cups.”

“So smart, Tsukki!” Noya cheered, and Kei grimaced at the nickname. It was barely tolerable. Yamaguchi had been using it forever, and Kei had long since tried to pry the name off of his best friend’s tongue. That didn’t mean he was fine with it spreading like wildfire. 

“It’s a good thing you came along bro! You can keep us healthy and stuff!” Tanaka flashed him a thumbs up in the bad flashlight lighting. Kei rolled his eyes. Of course these dumbasses would need help being nutritious. 

He wished his phone hadn’t died a while back, he could use some music.

\---

“IS THAT LIGHT?”

“IT IS!”

“Tsukki! Tsukki! Look! We made it!”

The group of teens and their fearless club sponsor had been walking for two straight hours at that point, and their feet were feeling it. Kei had nearly fallen asleep standing up, but Yamaguchi had managed to pique his interest mildly enough to keep him awake. It was mostly him rattling off possible crayon color names. It was dumb, but Kei had undoubtedly declared that clear was to be called “Hinata’s Drool” and that was what had Yamaguchi laughing and Kei smiling unto his hoodie like a pathetic idiot.

Yamaguchi was sunshine. He couldn’t  _ help  _ it.

“Get  _ real food _ .” Suga reminded one more time before the group of ravenous boys -- being Tanaka, Noya, and a shy but hungry and enthusiastic Yamaguchi -- pounced on the doors to the shop and grabbed as much food as they could.

Kei was the last one in the door, stopping only when he heard a strange sort of… wail from the bushes across the street. Quietly, he shut the door and started after the noise.

He blamed the spontaneity on his exhaustion.

\---

“Alright, get up to the counter so we can pay you guys!” Takeda told the teens. Tadashi looked around the aisles for Tsukki -- he needed help holding all the water bottles he had grabbed -- but couldn’t find the tall blonde anywhere. He wouldn’t have minded much, considering Tsukki was tall so he should be visible anywhere, but it was just that it seemed the blonde just  _ wasn’t in the store. _

“Takeda-sensei? Do you know where Tsukishima is?” He asked the teacher, placing his goods on the counter next to Karnataka's not-so-secretly-hidden beef jerky.

“Hm? Oh, I…” Takeda looked around, and then his face turned serious when he couldn’t find him either, “I don’t know.”

“Suga!” Tadashi jogged lightly over to the older boy. He turned around, looking just as tired as the first year felt, but Tadashi didn’t focus on it. “Have you seen Tsukki? He isn’t in here at all!”

Suga’s brow furrowed and he looked around the store just as Takeda had before. “That’s… not good.” He hummed, “Maybe he’s just in the bathroom?”

“Nah,” Noya said, walking out of said bathroom, “It’s a one stall so  _ trust me  _ I would’ve seen him in there.”

“Then where…?” Tadashi mumbled.

“I’m going to pay,” Takeda ordered the kids, voice firm, “Go check outside and tell me  _ immediately  _ if you don’t see him.”

Tadashi nodded, worry clawing at his stomach, before running outside. It was dark -- darker than before -- and he could barely see anything. Tanaka went left while Noya went right, and Suga looked around the back of the building and parking lot. That left Tadashi slowly stepping across the road to the grassy ledge where horizon met earth. In the moonlight, as he got closer, he could see movement?

His heart raced with fear. He  _ really  _ wanted Tsukki there. Tsukki wouldn’t take late night search party bullshit. He would just tell them they were idiots and then find the person in mere minutes. But now, Tsukki was the one gone, and Tadashi felt lost and alone in the night on a mountain.

“Tsukki?” He whispered, and the rustling in front of him stopped. He inhaled quickly, body thrumming with fear, and whipped out his phone flashlight.

There was Tsukishima, kneeling in the bushes, dirty hands clasped together as though in prayer.

“Tsukki!” Tadashi squealed, launching himself at his best friend. The blonde startled and nearly pitched backwards, but steadied himself with a hand. His palms unlocked and there in the middle of it all, was a lizard.

A baby, green, lizard.

“...Tsukki… did you wander off by yourself to play with a lizard?” Tadashi asked, taking in the full sight before him. The blonde froze and looked down at his hand. The lizard, scared by Tadashi’s bright light and loud voice, jumped off his fingers and skittered away into the underbrush.

“It… there was a uh… fox,” Tsukki coughed uncomfortably, “and it was trying to kill it so I scared it off.”

Tadashi blinked.

And blinked again.

“You… fought a fox for a lizard?”

Tsukki couldn’t meet his eyes, “It reminded me of something.” He answered vaguely enough that the lightest ear would accept the answer without a second doubt. Tadashi, though, understood.

“Big bully fox picking on a little lizard. You can’t just  _ not  _ intervene.” He nodded, sitting beside his best friend on the ground. “Sounds to me like you’re more sentimental than you thought.”

“Shut up.” Tsukki sniffed, but Tadashi laughed. 

“You’re sweeter than you act, you know that Tsukki? Saving a lizard all by yourself?” he had tried to be genuine, but the situation was just  _ too  _ hilarious to not pass up. He turned to Tsukishima, grinning at him. The blonde finally turned to look at him, eyes tired, but he could see how they glowed in the pale light.

He was so close.

If Tadashi was a braver man, he would have kissed Tsukishima right there.

He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but here in the night in the mountains with a  _ lizard  _ acting as their wing man, Tadashi wanted nothing more than to press his lips to the blondes and savor the moment. 

Tsukishima was  _ everything.  _ His protector, his best friend, his gateway, the spark to his fire. Tsukishima had been there from the very beginning when he helped him that day in the park, and he had been there ever since.

Tsukishima kissed Tadashi.

Tadashi had been so lost in the glimmer of the blondes glasses that he hadn’t even realized that the blonde had closed the gap between them and kissed him tenderly.

It wasn’t ideal -- the bushes on a cliff at eleven pm, very hungry and tired -- but Tadashi couldn’t think that it was perfect.

Tadashi stood up first, towering above Tsukki for the first time in his life. Now, he wouldn’t just be the damsel in distress. He was going to be for Tsukki the knight in shining armor to his fox and lizard. Tsukki took his hand, and they returned to the bright store -- a beacon in the dark night.

The walk back to the bus was worse than the one down, but Tadashi kept that hidden smile on Tsukki’s face, and he would cherish that every step up the mountain.


End file.
